Trade sector · July 2026

Lebens- und Sozialberatung in Austria

Dense market, but still growing — use the timing window. Density, 13-month trend and market movement for every federal state and 23 Vienna districts — recomputed monthly.

Free · no signup · Data snapshot July 2026 · updated monthly · CC-BY 4.0

Active locations in Vienna

3,619
17.72 per 10k inhabitants Very high Growing, volatile
Monthly trend · Vienna · Lebens- und Sozialberatung 3,293 3,619 +9.9 %
Mar 25 – Jul 26 · 15 data points · GISA CC-BY 4.0
Annual report (before change) Method jump (not the real market) Monthly report (clean data)
Monthly trend Vienna · Lebens- und Sozialberatung: 4,605 active locations in Mar 25, 3,619 in Jul 26, net change plus 9.9 percent. 3,500 4,000 4,500 Switch to monthly report Mar 25: 4,605 locations Apr 25: 4,622 locations May 25: 3,293 locations Jun 25: 4,669 locations Jul 25: 3,330 locations Aug 25: 3,355 locations Sep 25: 3,375 locations Oct 25: 3,398 locations Nov 25: 3,421 locations Dec 25: 3,438 locations Jan 26: 3,446 locations Feb 26: 3,463 locations Apr 26: 3,531 locations Jun 26: 3,590 locations Jul 26: 3,619 locations Mar 25 Jun 25 Sep 25 Dec 25 Apr 26 Jul 26

Key figures

Active in Vienna 3,619 17.72 per 10k inhabitants
Austria total 14,121 Vienna share: 25.6 %
Vienna trend since May 2025 +9.9 % Post-break baseline (clean, no method break)
Movement dynamics 83 % Growing, volatile

Whitespace: 3 districts with the lowest density

Shortest path to a decision: the three districts with the lowest number of Lebens- und Sozialberatung businesses per 10,000 inhabitants — on paper the largest market gaps in Vienna (for population ≥ 20,000).

  1. 1
    1110 Simmering Low
    5.1 per 10k · 57 locations · 112,149 inh. +5.6 % since May 25
  2. 2
    1100 Favoriten Low
    7.1 per 10k · 158 locations · 223,190 inh. +9.7 % since May 25
  3. 3
    1210 Floridsdorf Low
    11.2 per 10k · 212 locations · 189,551 inh. +7.6 % since May 25

Note: low density is a signal, not a guarantee. Combine it with the market movement above and the OSM visibility below before you commit.

What does this trajectory tell you?

The stock is growing noticeably since May 2025 (+9.9 % post method change). For founders the direction is a signal, but not the whole picture — low per-capita density can still spell opportunity if the remaining businesses are overloaded.

Insider view: methods, fluctuations, readability notes

Method change May 2025. Before May 2025 the figures come from the annual report (reference-date based), from May 2025 on from the monthly OgdAufrechteGewerbeberechtigung snapshots. The two sources count slightly differently — hence the visible break between April and May 2025. For the churn indicator we use only the clean May-2025-plus window, so the calculation is not distorted by the method jump.

Seasonal fluctuations. Smaller month-to-month movements are normal — trade licences are issued in bursts (month turns, quarter ends) and deregistered (often at year ends). A single month at +5 or −3 is not a trend break.

What a line does not show. The stock is a stock, not a flow. 500 active trade licences at a steady monthly stock can mean: (a) 500 dormant businesses with no movement, or (b) 480 stable plus 20 deregistering this month and 20 newly registering. The churn indicator measures exactly that difference — the curve does not show it.

Why we don't go back further. The GISA dataset only exists in structured form from 2018, before that only as non-anonymised internal data. Annual reports from 2019 could theoretically be integrated — that is a planned expansion. Currently: monthly snapshots since March 2025.

Context

What you should know about Lebens- und Sozialberatung

Life and social counselling is a regulated trade requiring a certificate of competence under the Lebens- und Sozialberater-Verordnung. The certificate requires 584 hours of training in an accredited course (ARGE Bildungsmanagement, ILS, ISBB and others). No training, no trade licence — that is the most important barrier to entry in this fast-growing market.

Around 14,000 active life counsellors are registered across Austria, nearly 3,500 of them in Wien. The sector has been growing above average for years — many career changers come from human resources, education or nursing. The market is better protected than, say, management consultancy thanks to the mandatory training, but denser than classic regulated trades such as roofers or master builders.

Timing — when to start?

Demand for counselling is strongly seasonal: the turn of the year (New Year's resolutions), the period after summer (reorientation), and the weeks around Mother's Day are typical peaks in enquiries. Couples and family counselling picks up especially in autumn, once holiday conflicts come to the surface.

Pitfalls that are often overlooked

  • Distinction from psychotherapy

    Life counselling is not psychotherapy. The treatment of mental illness is reserved exclusively for psychotherapists (PthG) and clinical psychologists (PG). Unclear positioning ("counselling for depression") can lead to a report for unauthorised medical treatment. Clear language in marketing and initial consultations is mandatory.

  • Duty of confidentiality + documentation

    Life counsellors are bound by a duty of confidentiality. Client documentation must be GDPR-compliant — this also applies to paper records (a lockable cabinet). For counselling minors, the written consent of both legal guardians is required.

  • Exclusion of nutritional and sports counselling

    The life-counselling qualification explicitly does not cover sports-science-based nutritional counselling — that is a separate, independently regulated trade. Anyone wanting to draw up diet or training plans as a life counsellor needs an additional certificate of competence. Details from the ACP.

Regulated trade under GewO 1994 § 94 plus the Lebens- und Sozialberater-Verordnung. Gewerbeschlüssel 4601. Professional profile: Österreichische Vereinigung für Lebens- und Sozialberatung.

Insider analysis · Vienna

What does your competition really look like?

As ofJuly 2026Next snapshot: ~August 1, 2026

The typical active business in Vienna is 6 years old (median). 28 % are younger than 3 years, 13 % older than 20 years. Dominant legal form: 96.5 % sole proprietors.

How long have they been in the market?

Distribution of age in years across all 3,619 active locations. Median 6 years · P10–P90 1–21 years.

358<1
3321-2
3072-3
5053-5
5365-8
4358-12
69112-20
33520-30
12030-50
050+

Bars = number of businesses per age-year bucket. Highlighted bar = median age. Small buckets under 5 businesses are suppressed as "·" (GDPR minimum cell size against re-identification).

Founding waves

When were the currently active businesses founded?

before 2000
206(6 %)
2000-2009
507(14 %)
2010-2014
466(13 %)
2015-2019
650(18 %)
2020-2026
1,790(49 %)

Solo (natural person) vs. registered company (GmbH, OG, KG, AG).

Sole proprietors
96.5 % (3,493)
Legal entity
3.5 % (126)

Distribution across Vienna postal-code areas

The higher the Gini index, the more the sector concentrates in a few postal-code areas. 0 = evenly distributed, 1 = everything in a single postal-code area. Vienna has 23 districts, which split into several postal-code areas.

0.21Gini indexvery evenly distributed
23Active postal-code areasin which at least one business is active
21 %Top-3 shareacross 3 postal-code areas combined
  • #11220320 businesses
  • #21020231 businesses
  • #31030222 businesses

Method: Active locations only (legally effective, not dormant). Snapshot 2026-07. Data source: GISA via data.gv.at, CC-BY 4.0.

Honest data limit: The open dataset contains no owner IDs. Who stands behind which business, and whether one owner holds several locations/sectors, cannot be derived from open data alone. The postal-code concentration above is a proxy signal for chain tendencies, not a real ownership analysis.

Complementary signal

What is the market searching for? — Google Trends bridge

Our data shows how many businesses exist. Google Trends adds how often people search for “Lebensberatung” — the demand side. Together you see whether a market is constrained by supply or by demand.

Google Trends is a free third-party tool. We store nothing and pass no data on — the link opens directly on trends.google.com in a new tab.

Market compass · Vienna · Lebens- und Sozialberatung compared

Saturation × market movement at a glance

Each dot is a trade sector. Left = lower density per 10,000 residents, top = more movement (registrations and deregistrations over the last 11 months).

Market compass for Vienna · Lebens- und Sozialberatung compared 20 trade sectors in Vienna · Lebens- und Sozialberatung compared, positioned by density per 10,000 residents (x-axis, logarithmic) and churn index (y-axis). Top-left is the prime zone: undersupplied and active. Density per 10,000 residents → ← Market movement (churn index %) Prime zone undersupplied · active Slots opening saturated · active Stagnant undersupplied · quiet Entrenched saturated · quiet Bäcker: density 0.8/10k · churn 40 % Bäcker Baumeister: density 6.8/10k · churn 128 % Dachdecker: density 0.4/10k · churn 125 % Dachdecker Elektrotechnik: density 8.2/10k · churn 109 % Elektrotechnik Fleischer: density 0.7/10k · churn 66 % Fleischer Berufsfotograf: density 12.6/10k · churn 87 % Berufsfotograf Friseur: density 10.1/10k · churn 49 % Friseur Fußpflege: density 3.2/10k · churn 79 % Fußpflege Gärtner & Florist: density 1.6/10k · churn 106 % Gärtner & Florist Gas- und Sanitärtechnik: density 5.9/10k · churn 102 % Gastgewerbe: density 37.6/10k · churn 30 % Gastgewerbe IT-Dienstleistungen: density 80.5/10k · churn 118 % IT-Dienstleistungen Kosmetik: density 9.6/10k · churn 102 % Lebens- und Sozialberatung: density 17.7/10k · churn 83 % Lebens- und Sozialberatung Massage: density 8.7/10k · churn 115 % Nagelstudio: density 5.7/10k · churn 54 % Nagelstudio Taxi: density 21.2/10k · churn 81 % Taxi Tischler: density 2.7/10k · churn 99 % Tischler Unternehmensberatung: density 52.3/10k · churn 92 % Unternehmensberatung Werbeagentur: density 35.8/10k · churn 113 % Werbeagentur
Active market · growing steadily Growing, volatile Quiet Shrinking

All federal states compared

Density per 10,000 inhabitants plus market dynamics over the last 11 months. Sorted by density, descending.

Federal state Locations per 10k Density Market dynamics net 11 mo
Wien(here) 3,619 17.7 Very high Growing, volatile +9.9 %
Burgenland → 506 16.8 Very high Growing, volatile +5.2 %
Salzburg → 906 15.8 High Growing, volatile +6.0 %
Kärnten → 881 15.4 High Growing, volatile +8.5 %
Tirol → 1,144 14.7 Medium Growing, volatile +9.3 %
Niederösterreich → 2,518 14.6 Medium Growing, volatile +8.9 %
Vorarlberg → 595 14.4 Low Growing, volatile +2.4 %
Steiermark → 1,809 14.2 Low Growing, volatile +5.1 %
Oberösterreich → 2,143 13.9 Low Growing, volatile +10.1 %

Vienna — all 23 districts

Sorted by Lebens- und Sozialberatung density per 10,000 inhabitants, descending. “Licensed” = GISA trade licences, “OSM” = shop addresses visible in OpenStreetMap, “since May 25” = district net delta post method break (clean signal, without the May-2025 jump).

Postcode District Lic. OSM Inh. per 10k Density since May 25
1010 Innere Stadt 95 0 16,281 58.4 Very high rising  +8.0 %
1090 Alsergrund 176 0 41,664 42.2 Very high rising  +7.3 %
1070 Neubau 129 0 31,330 41.2 Very high rising  +4.9 %
1080 Josefstadt 98 0 24,242 40.4 Very high falling  -1.0 %
1180 Währing 182 0 51,376 35.4 Very high rising  +19.0 %
1060 Mariahilf 109 0 31,083 35.1 High rising  +22.5 %
1130 Hietzing 176 0 56,108 31.4 High rising  +9.3 %
1040 Wieden 104 0 33,444 31.1 High rising  +8.3 %
1190 Döbling 186 0 76,074 24.4 High rising  +10.1 %
1030 Landstraße 222 0 98,881 22.4 High rising  +7.8 %
1140 Penzing 215 0 99,049 21.7 High rising  +9.7 %
1170 Hernals 122 0 56,767 21.5 Medium rising  +10.9 %
1020 Leopoldstadt 231 0 112,675 20.5 Medium rising  +9.5 %
1050 Margareten 102 0 54,581 18.7 Medium rising  +7.4 %
1230 Liesing 204 0 123,714 16.5 Medium rising  +6.8 %
1160 Ottakring 163 0 102,727 15.9 Medium rising  +13.2 %
1120 Meidling 149 0 102,393 14.6 Medium rising  +8.8 %
1220 Donaustadt 320 0 228,158 14.0 Low rising  +14.7 %
1150 Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus 103 0 75,902 13.6 Low rising  +10.8 %
1200 Brigittenau 106 0 86,950 12.2 Low rising  +12.8 %
1210 Floridsdorf 212 0 189,551 11.2 Low rising  +7.6 %
1100 Favoriten 158 0 223,190 7.1 Low rising  +9.7 %
1110 Simmering 57 0 112,149 5.1 Low rising  +5.6 %

Lic. vs. OSM: GISA also counts mobile or home-based businesses without a shop; OSM shows only those with a visible address. Vienna total: 3,619 licensed vs. ~0 in OSM (0 with postcode, 0 without).

Other trades with a similar market situation

Other trade sectors with volatile, growing market dynamics in Vienna.

Berufsfotograf 12.6 per 10k · Density very high
Friseur 10.1 per 10k · Density low
Gärtner & Florist 1.6 per 10k · Density low

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers to the typical questions about Lebens- und Sozialberatung in Austria.

How many Lebens- und Sozialberatung businesses are currently active in Wien?
3,619 active trade licences per the GISA snapshot July 2026. That is 25.6 % of all 14,121 Lebens- und Sozialberatung businesses in Austria — or, put differently, 17.72 businesses per 10,000 inhabitants.
Which federal state has the most Lebens- und Sozialberatung businesses per capita?
Wien leads with 17.72 Lebens- und Sozialberatung businesses per 10,000 inhabitants. At the other end of the scale sits Oberösterreich with 13.94. The bottom position is, on paper, the biggest market gap — whether that is a real opportunity depends on purchasing power and demand.
Is the market for Lebens- und Sozialberatung in Vienna moving?
In the window May 2025 – July 2026 roughly 83 % of the average stock saw movement (registrations and deregistrations), at a net growth of +9.9 %. Classification: growing, volatile. High movement means: even when the market looks saturated, slots open up regularly.
Which Vienna districts have the lowest Lebens- und Sozialberatung density?
Vienna districts with below-average density per 10,000 inhabitants (only districts with at least 20,000 inhabitants counted): 1110 Simmering (5.1 per 10k), 1100 Favoriten (7.1 per 10k), 1210 Floridsdorf (11.2 per 10k). On paper these are the districts with the largest whitespace for a new Lebens- und Sozialberatung business.
Which Vienna district has the highest Lebens- und Sozialberatung density?
1010 Innere Stadt with 58.35 businesses per 10,000 inhabitants. That usually means strong competition and a tough spot for newcomers. Exception: inner-city districts benefit from commuter and tourism demand, so the per-capita figure understates the real customer base there.
Do I need a master craftsman's certificate for a Lebens- und Sozialberatung trade?
That depends on the specific trade code. Free trades (e.g. cosmetics / beauty care) only need a trade registration at the district authority; regulated crafts (e.g. hairdresser, roofer, butcher) additionally require the master craftsman's certificate (Meisterbrief) or an equivalent qualification before you can go self-employed. Details in the glossary and at the WKO.
What does the full market check cost?
This overview — density, 13-month trend, market movement, district data and insider demographics (age, legal form, concentration) — is free and needs no signup, and it stays that way. If you need the figures in writing as a complete report and Excel export plus 12 months of automatic updates, that is what the Pro Report is for: a one-off €49 (SEPA transfer, small-business scheme — no VAT, no subscription).
How is the figure calculated?
The basis is the GISA dataset OgdAufrechteGewerbeberechtigung (data.gv.at, CC-BY 4.0). We count active trade licences with a location in the respective region and the trade code 4601. Density = active businesses ÷ inhabitants × 10,000. Full documentation on Methodology & data sources.

Optional · if you need more

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Everything you see here stays freely accessible — always current, always verifiable. But if you need these figures for your business plan, the bank or your own bookkeeping, there is the Pro Report: a complete PDF report to save, an Excel export of the raw data, 12 months of automatic updates.

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